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Friday, May 04, 2012

Good News Friday: Anthony Loverde Re-Enlists

Staff Sergeant Anthony Loverde was discharged from the
military back in 2008 under "Don't Ask, Don't Tell"
but Servicemembers Legal Defense Network [SLDN] hasannounced that he will be reinstated in
the U.S. Air Force and will return to active duty.

He is set to take his oath, again, in Sacramento in May 2012 and be
assigned to the 19th Operations Squadron at Little Rock AFB in Arkansas. The
reinstatement is set to make Loverde the second service member--and second SLDN
client--reinstated to active duty following the repeal of DADT in September
2011.

Staff Sergeant Anthony Loverde: "I am honored and humbled to
return to the service of my country and the job I love. I am grateful to my
legal team and all of those in the armed forces who helped to facilitate this
reinstatement. I am eager to take the oath and get to work."

Loverde's reinstatement is the result of a resolution on his behalf in the
case, Almy v. U.S.,
filed in 2010, that challenged the constitutionality of the three plaintiffs
who were discharged under DADT; the resolution seeks their reinstatement to
active duty. A resolution was reached last December on behalf of Petty
Officer 2nd Class Jase Daniels, who was reinstated in the U.S. Navy as a
linguist, and the third resolution, on behalf former Air Force Major Mike
Almy, is expected soon.

Anthony Loverde enlisted in the Air Force at age 20, rising to the rank of
Staff Sergeant before he was discharged seven years later under DADT. He is an
expert at calibrating weapons systems and had been in charge of cargo on more
than sixty flights into Iraq. Following his discharge, he was hired immediately
by a military contractor and sent to Iraq and Afghanistan, largely doing the
same job he had done in the Air Force before his discharge.

The same job.

And now, he can go back to serving his country, as he should have been
allowed to do all along.